Three facts about this film help to make it highly-rated in my book: it's very entertaining, moves fast and lasts only 90 minutes. So, if in the mood for a combination Fugitive/Rambo story with two very intense lead actors, this is a convenient diversion to play numerous times.

Tommy Lee Jones was the mentor who trained Benico Del Toro on the art of killing and now the ex-student has gone out of control and Jones must hunt him down, something the police can't seem to do. That's the story, simple as that. The only thing was a little implausible is that old man chasing down a kid for miles. Tommy Lee might be in shape, but he isn't young enough to do what he does here. However, both men are fun to watch and the action scenes are well done. You don't get bored watching this movie.

No, the film isn't high-grade mentality but it isn't totally stupid, either. It doesn't get carried and is pretty believable until the final chase scene. Along the way, we are treated the Portland cityscape and Northwest woods, both of which are nicely filmed.

I personally believe that 2004's THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, directed by Paul Greengrass, changed the look of action thrillers forever. Gone was the clean, sometimes lethargic of Hollywood thrillers of old, to be replaced by fast editing, shaky cam action and gung-ho story lines. THE HUNTED is one of the last of the old-school fugitive thrillers and inevitably it pales in comparison to BOURNE, although somewhat ironically the music rips off the original BOURNE IDENTITY at one point.

The film itself is pretty much a re-run of THE FUGITIVE and US MARSHALLS, thus completing an unofficial Tommy Lee Jones trilogy of such thrillers. It's got a noticeably harder edge than those movies though, particularly when it comes to the hard-hitting action; there's an eye-popping knife fight in this one which beats anything I can remember in a 1990s Hollywood fight scene in terms of realism and brutality, outside of a Seagal film of course.

Unfortunately THE HUNTED has two things working against it, and surprisingly one of those things is William Friedkin. For the guy who brought us THE FRENCH CONNECTION, this is Friedkin off the boil; the direction is stodgy and somehow lacking, leaving the viewer coldly distanced from the action. The second problem is with the script, which never fleshes out the antagonist and never explores the back story properly, which is really annoying. You've never quite sure whether Del Toro's the bad guy or not, and the viewer is left feeling wrongfooted as a result. It's just unsatisfying.

There are also some rather silly goofs along the way, including a scene where a guy somehow builds an extensive trap in about five minutes, and also gets the ability to superheat metal on a wood fire. Del Toro and Jones are on strong form here, but the rest of the cast is weak, particularly the actresses involved. But the action is plentiful and well-shot and you could do a lot worse, so this is middle of the road rather than bad.

It's 1999 in Kosovo. Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro) is awarded the Silver Star for killing a Serb commander who has been massacring civilians. He is haunted by the war. L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) is in British Columbia protecting wildlife. It's 2003 and Hallam has been hunting people in the forest in the American northwest. Bonham who turns out to be his teacher is called in to track him down. FBI agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) is in charge and they are able to capture him. Government agents take him away since his work as an assassin cannot be brought out in public. He crashes the truck and escapes.

Basically, Tommy Lee Jones is doing another Fugitive except the story isn't as compelling and Benicio Del Toro is really quiet. William Friedkin is still a good straight action director. The action isn't too slick. It's partly good although it's too obvious to have the final fight at the edge of the rushing river. Don't ask me why both men have to make their own weapons for that fight. Maybe if the entire movie is one big chase in the woods, that would be more appropriate. This feels like a lesser replica of a better movie.